2. The Highwayman By Loreena McKennitt

3. The Highwayman Originally a poem, it has been set to music and sung by Loreena McKinnett. It is a story of love between the “Highwayman” and the Inn Keeper’s Daughter, Bess. The story ends in tragedy for both of them. The song begins on the next slide and slides will transition automatically until the music is finished. Make appropriate adjustments to your computer’s sound system.

4. The Highwayman 01 The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon the cloudy seas The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor And the highwayman came riding, riding, riding, The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.

5. The Highwayman 02 He'd a French cocked hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin, A coat of claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin; They fitted with never a wrinkle; his boots were up to the thigh! And he rode with a jeweled twinkle, His pistol butts a-twinkle, His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jeweled sky.

6. The Highwayman 03 Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard, And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred; He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there But the landlord's black-eyed daughter, Bess, the landlord's daughter, Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

7. The Highwayman 04 "One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize tonight, But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light; Yet if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day, Then look for me by the moonlight, watch for me by the moonlight, I'll come to thee by the moonlight, though hell shall bar the way."

8. The Highwayman 05 He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand But she loosened her hair in the casement! His face burnt like a brand As the black cascade of the perfume came tumbling over his breast; And he kissed its waves in the moonlight, (Oh, sweet waves in the moonlight!) He tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the west.

9. The Highwayman 06 He did not come at the dawning; he did not come at noon, And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon, When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor, A red-coat troop came marching, marching, marching King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.

10. The Highwayman 07 They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead, But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed; Two of them knelt at the casement, with muskets at their side! There was death at every window, hell at one dark window; For Bess could see through the casement, The road that he would ride.

11. The Highwayman 08 They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest; They had bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast! "now keep good watch!" And they kissed her. She heard the dead man say… "Look for me by the moonlight, watch for me by the moonlight I'll come to thee by the moonlight though hell shall bar the way!"

12. The Highwayman 09 She twisted her hands behind her, but all the knots held good! She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood! They stretched and strained in the darkness and the hours crawled by like years! Till, now, on the stroke of midnight, cold, on the stroke of midnight, The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!

13. The Highwayman 10 Tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horses hoofs ring clear Tlot-tlot, in the distance! Were they deaf that they did not hear? Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill, The highwayman came riding, riding, riding! The red-coats looked to their priming! She stood up straight and still!

14. The Highwayman 11 Tlot in the frosty silence! Tlot, in the echoing night! Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light! Her eyes grew wide for a moment! She drew one last deep breath, Then her finger moved in the moonlight, her musket shattered the moonlight, Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him with her death.

15. The Highwayman 12 He turned; he spurred to the west; he did not know she stood bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood! Not till the dawn he heard it; his face grew grey to hear How Bess, the landlord's daughter, the landlord's black-eyed daughter, Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.

16. The Highwayman 13 And back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high! Blood-red were the spurs in the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat, when they shot him down on the highway, down like a dog on the highway, And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.

17. The Highwayman 14 Still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees, When the moon is a ghostly galleon, tossed upon the cloudy seas, When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, A highwayman comes riding, riding, riding, A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.

18. The Highwayman That concludes our music intervention, I sincerely hope you enjoyed it. With the best of intentions, I plan to put up a new song once a month, so check back next month. mhkeehn@gmail.com http://mhkeehn.tripod.com/